UCB in Austin?

[valetoile]

I'm nothing but Nudge.

[Alex B]

Katie S was apparently at a summit in NYC w/ some of the UCB founders -- she posted this on facebook:

"This was recently asked at a 401 summit - they said directly that they're not going to open a theater in Austin. IF they gather enough in savings to open a new theater it will probably be in Toronto, but they can't even deal with opening a new theater right now."

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

It is a different point of view. Totally.


This is where we come to what I call "the nudge". The nudge is crucial to my point of view. If you want to step into my shoes for a minute.

Here's what it is. All the time I see low level students who want to play. They want to play badly. But their heads start to mess with them. They get butterflies before the recital. During the jam they never step onstage. Scene after scene they just do not step on that stage.

YOU, as their peer, have to empathize with when you first started. Did you feel the same way? I know I did. I was terrified.

So here's what I do. I gently nudge the person into the next scene. I nudge them! Because I know they want to play but they are fighting themselves and giving themselves excuses in their head not to.


This happens every week. Seriously. Apprehension is not uncommon in improv. There's a little bit of it in every person who isn't a natural born stage hog, right?

So take the idea of the nudge and extend it a little bit. Extend to where a student has to be nudged to feel invited at the actual theater. They look around week after week but nobody talks to them. Nobody invites them to the barbeque.


They stop taking classes. They stop attending shows. They convince themselves they weren't good enough.


They fall off the face of the earth and we all say, "if they wanted it bad enough they would have fought for it."


But think back and YOU tell me that nobody nudged you. Tell me that. Because I was nudged by someone. I can think back to the very second it happened. I have to acknowledge that if I was nudged, then maybe improv is not a matter of fighting over a bone.

I have nudged new folks to the point of absurdity. Some people reading this were nudged by people they don't want to admit. There's no telling if those students would have kept at it without the nudge. Some days I imagine alternate universes where they never fell in love with improv. I imagine them sitting at their computer. And it makes me real sad.

So you know what? I don't risk it. I nudge every person I see if I realize they WANT it but are too apprehensive to go for it. Within the one theater I can manage this type of nurturing.

I don't believe in dog-eat-dog. You end up with a bunch of stage hogs that way. And it gets annoying fast. Nudge them. You end up with a cross cut of real people who were once terrified to do this incredibly scary thing we all do.


Seriously this thing we do is scary. Acknowledge it and nudge them.

I dig this notion, but i'm not entirely certain how it applies to what we were talking about, or to the hypothetical (and, according to Alex, entirely fictional) presence of UCB in Austin. I don't see how this notion of nudging doesn't work in conjunction with what I was talking about. all i'm saying is it might be better to be nudged within a community vibe (which is, to my mind, one of the great strengths of the Austin improv scene) than being nudged solely within one theatre.

as for me personally...no, no one ever nudged me. but i had already been doing scripted theatre for a few years at that point so no one really needed to. also, there wasn't really anyone TO nudge me when i started doing improv. there were no improv specific theatres, no classes that i was aware of, no real community. a handful of troupes, eyeing each other warily, desperate and hungry to find a stage to play on. which is one of the reasons i VALUE this community so much, because i remember what it was like before (good god, i make it sound like The Road. it wasn't THAT bad, lol!). maybe i'm one of these "natural born stage hogs" you're referring to (I've certainly been called worse in this regard. ), and i'll rarely be the one to nudge. but i'll always be the one to hug ya and have your back once you're sharing a stage with me.

[BriHo]

Aye, Rev, ya speak like the wee baby Jaysus and his wholy unseen mother and his line of King Dayvid dad all at once, the trinity, like.

Though the description of improv troupes and people sounds accurate, more accurate than even the most obscured Bible, though how you [people] got around this fact without fisticuffs or invoking a demon (sorry, just reread Funniest Man In the Room; I don't know if its Del's hilarious or Charna is completely baffled) continues to Charna the shit out of me, especially it being the second time.

[Spots]

Jordan:


So here's the second step to my nudge and how far my nudge can reach.

In a controlled environment, I can see a student's progress. I can attend, maybe even film every recital. The nudges are consistent.

Genuine feedback. Treating them as equals and encouraging them to keep at it.

Once I start telling students, "Hey you should try out for maestro this week. Do the Merlin mixer. Do this, do that." Suddenly my nudge is outward. I am nudging away from me. The student can get lost in the mix. He's juggling between styles-- which is great.


But I prefer a environment where mentorship is consistently present. This happened for me and accelerated my journey. I recognize that. So my nudge is equally focused. I can control my nudge and assure I will be in the same space as the student and monitor his journey.

Again, an abstraction. But a student's journey can occur in a controlled space and accelerate in a matter of weeks or months. Sometimes bouncing back and forth between different theaters CAN prolong a student's growth. I'm not saying it does, But it can. I've talked to people who've been at it for years and still feel lost. I don't understand this notion.


If everyone was nudging, I would be ALL for opening doors and pushing students outward. But I know it's not always the case that people are nudging like I nudge.


I nudge in a controlled environment where I can see the results. It accelerates and has an accumulated effect. Ideally it's a vacuum chamber of amazing awesomeness.



So I'm OK with being called out for nurturing in a closed door environment. And I will stand up for UCB instructors who want to do the same. Folks like Gethard and Hines. Joe Wengert.


Is anyone really going to get in their face and tell them they can't teach in Austin? Because they have a passion for nurturing ? That's a real messed up phenomenon. It's backwards. These people aren't responsible for the social dynamic folks despise. They are honestly helping and nurturing people. That doesn't make them bad guys.

The notion of turning away a business owner when their business model is to nurture students... is so ridiculous and unfounded.


People can nudge within closed doors. That doesn't make them closed off people. In some ways they are more open.

I would point to the student retention rate at individual theaters to find out!

[Spots]

I'm nothing but Nudge.

YAY! Val thanks again for coming out that one night (you know which one). I can verify that you are ALL nudge.

[Spots]

I'll throw this out there too:


If you aren't doing any nudging, you are most likely cherry picking. Cherry picking is ideal for the director or theater in the short term. You have your pick of the litter, across multiple schools. But it's a false promise for the student who hoped for the minimal amount of investment back into his/her abilities.

Difficult cycle to break if your only feedback is from the cherries who got picked.

[Asaf]

We very much nudge at The Institution. Part of our curriculum is based around hearing different ideas and seeing what works for you. I appreciate you being someone who nudges outward. I think you will find there are a lot of people like that in this community.

I believe the concern is that UCB will sit outside that community.

I will add this: there has been a problem with very vocal members of the UCB community not only isolating themselves, but actively badmouthing and dismissing anything outside of their circle.It is not a common policy, it's not sanctioned by the UCB but it happens there. There is however this cult mentality that goes on there. It goes on in many big markets. And it goes unchecked.

It says things like "Short form is the devil." and refers to our "cute, little scene" (both direct quotes) and proclaims that "UCB brought longform to New York City" even though personally I had been doing longform for roughly 8 years before they arrived and was among several troupes that were performing longform regularly.

That's what I fear, not competition.

[Caeriel]

But that ecology will change sooner or later anyway. I dread the day that the first improviser out of Austin makes it big, because whatever theater s/he was associated with will suddenly start getting a disproportionate amount of attention.

I just want to point out that due to the very cooperative and friendly nature of the theaters here, it's pretty likely that anyone who makes it big will have attended classes at 2, 3, 4, or 5 different theaters in Austin (and performed on at least that many stages), not just one. I hardly know anyone here who's only taken classes at one theater.

[Ruby W.]

Sorry I'm going back to the "nudge" tangent!!!

I love this phrase "nudging"!!!! It perfectly describes the improv community and how we treat each other.

I'm really proud to say that I have felt nothing but nudge from The Hideout Community and The Institution and MerlinWorks. I haven't been able to take classes at Coldtowne yet, but I have even felt nudges from multiple improvisers from that theater as well. As a student, I was able to form a troupe (Three Hot Chicks) and get show time at the Threefer or Weekender at the Hideout or the Monday night Mash or Wednesday show block at Coldtowne (Institution wasn't around yet). As a student, I played in student showcases, Maestro, Fancy Pants, and the Merlin Mixer. As a student, improvisers (both experienced and not experienced) supported me and "nudged" me to keep trying. As a student, Shannon McCormick even threw me a bone and cast me in False Matters!

Now, I'd say I spend about 80% of my energy nudging new and upcoming students! It's literally my favorite thing about improv. So prepare to be nudged.

[shando]

As a student, Shannon McCormick even threw me a bone and cast me in False Matters!

The Nudge is super important. Most artists (of any medium) on their journey feel the need at some point for 'permission' to keep at it. Never underestimate the power of seeing and acknowledging someone's potential. It can change lives.

[Caeriel]

Now, I'd say I spend about 80% of my energy nudging new and upcoming students! It's literally my favorite thing about improv. So prepare to be nudged.

As a Ruby Nudge-ee, I can vouch that she's quite good at it!

[Bridget.Brewer]

WOAH I just saw that nice comment you made about me. YOU ARE A NICE PERSON, SIR WAFFLES.

[poltergasm]

Even though it's not happening, I think it would've been fantastic to see a UCB in Austin. I understand why the other theaters might have reservations. But as a fan, I'd lap it up. Central Texas boasts 1.8 million potential audience members. There's plenty of pie for everyone to get a big juicy piece.

(Dibs on "Big Juicy Piece" as a troupe name.)